In unprecedented times, Yale University Athletics is rallying together as One Bulldog Nation. While the health and safety of everyone must be at the forefront of every decision, Yale Athletics celebrates the outstanding accomplishments that our winter postseason-qualifying teams and spring programs have made this season. This week we continue honoring the outstanding senior classes of our teams that had their seasons cut short. Next up is women's track and field.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- During their nearly four years as members of the Yale women's track and field team, the 10 members of the class of 2020 dealt with injury, coaching change, and loss of upperclassmen with poise and strength. Despite setbacks, they managed to create the strongest track and field team in recent memory, both on and off the track. While competing in very different events, these women united and led their team to a 2019-20 indoor season of personal and school records, and demonstrated promise for the outdoor track and field season that the Bulldogs haven't seen in many years. While their final season at Yale may have been cut short, these women will leave behind much more than just their athletic performances.
Elizabeth Adelson of Tulsa, Okla., competed as one of Yale's few high jumpers during her time as a Bulldog and made an immediate impact on Yale's jumping squad. Adelson set a personal best at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet during her first season, tied for first at the Yale-Dartmouth-Columbia tri-meet, and competed at the Ivy League Indoor Track and Field Championships as a rookie. Despite battling a tough ankle injury for much of her first and second years, she returned to the team ready to compete, and did so consistently for the remainder of her time at Yale, even qualifying for the historic HYOC transatlantic series meet and winning the high jump against Birmingham while in the UK.
Lizzie Adelson is a member of Jonathan Edwards College majoring in psychology on neuroscience and pre-med tracks. After Yale she is working for the Huron Consulting Group on life sciences in New York City.
"I'm so thankful to Yale track and field for the lessons I've learned, the experiences I've had, and for giving me a home for the last four years," Adelson said. "To my teammates -- there is no other group of people I have more fun with or would rather spend my time with. You are such a special group of people and I can't wait to see what amazing things the team continues to accomplish."
Lauren Chapey competed for both the cross country and track and field teams at Yale. The Mamaroneck, N.Y., native focused on the 800 meters, 1500 meters and mile during her time as a Bulldog and also had impressive cross country seasons, including running at the cross country Ivy League Heptagonal Championships during her junior fall. Chapey was elected captain by her teammates for the 2019 cross country season, and finished her track season with a season's best and a fourth-place finish in the mile at the Giegengack Invitational this past February.
Off the track, Lauren Chapey is a member of Berkeley College majoring in engineering, working in the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation and Design in her free time. Next year she will be working for Deloitte in Washington, D.C.
"Being a part of Yale cross-country and track & field has been an amazing privilege," said Chapey. "People often think being a student-athlete at a place like Yale must be so difficult, and they're absolutely right. There were certainly many lows along the way, but the passion and support my teammates brought to every practice and every meet made it all absolutely worth it. I wouldn't have spent my college career doing anything else. I know my experience on tYf has been something I could never replicate, but I am grateful for the time I did have with such a special, supportive group of women, as well as for the friendships that will last my lifetime."
Lillian Enes has been a powerhouse for Yale since she first stepped on the track in the winter of 2016. Enes, who hails from Sacramento, Calif., holds the school record in the 400 meters and is a member of the school-record-holding team in the indoor 4x400 meter relay. In addition to her records, she earned multiple first-place finishes at the Yale-Dartmouth-Columbia tri-meet during her career and has won the 60 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays at various home meets and dual meets. Enes scored in the 400 meters at both the indoor and outdoor Ivy League Championships in 2019, placing third indoors, and was awarded Yale's Most Outstanding Sprinter Award at the conclusion of the season.
Lilly Enes is a member of Berkeley College majoring in political science.
"Next year I will be returning to northern California, moving to San Francisco," Enes said about her post-graduation plans. "There in SF I will be doing strategy for the financial-tech firm Worldpay. I'm very excited to start this new chapter in my life where I will be able to see some familiar faces of my Yalie friends going to the Bay Area, as well as making new friends and new adventures. One thing San Fran has is a lot of hills, I know Coach [George] Evans will be happy to know I will be keeping those up!"
Natasha Feshbach was the sole pentathlete at Yale for the past four years. Originally from Santa Barbara, Calif., Feshbach competed in the shot put, javelin, hurdles, long jump, high jump, 200, 400 and 800 meter run at Yale. Feshbach placed eighth in the pentathlon at the 2017 Ivy League Indoor Championships and seventh in the Heptathlon at the outdoor championships, just out of scoring position. She currently sits ninth on Yale's All-Time Top 10 List in the pentathlon and fourth in the heptathlon. In addition to her individual events, Feshbach was also a leg of many 4x400 meter relay teams, including a winning relay against Harvard in 2017. Despite battling multiple injuries, she was a leader for the entire track team, and was elected track and field captain by her teammates during the spring of 2019.
"Being captain has been the most gratifying experience of my Yale career," Feshbach said. "I watched our team come together in ways I could barely have imagined three years ago. This group was so special, and although we did not get the ending that we deserved this season, I am endlessly proud of the work every single woman gave every single day at practice, laying the foundation for a new culture of determination and dedication within the Yale Track and Field Program. The bonds forged in this group persist off the track and not a day goes by without conversation over text and video, despite our new locations out of New Haven and all over the world. I'm so grateful and proud to be a part of this group -- tYf will always be family."
Natasha Feshbach is a member of Grace Hopper College, majoring in environmental studies. Next year she will be working towards a Master's degree at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, for a career focused on environmental and gender advocacy.
Arianna Lord is one of two international members of the Yale women's track and field team in the class of 2020, hailing from Cambridge, New Zealand. Lord has been a staple in the middle distance squad since her first year as a Bulldog, competing in the 800 meters, 1,000 meters, and 4x800 meter relays in addition to fall cross country. She competed in five Ivy League Track and Field Championships during her time at Yale, and was a member of the 2019 second-place 4x800 meter relay team at last year's Outdoor Championships as well as the third-place 4x800 meter relay team at this year's Indoor Championships. Last year, Lord qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 1,000 meters indoors, making it through to the finals on day two and running a personal best of 2:53.00. In the 2019 outdoor season, she ran a personal best of 4:34.37 in the 1500 meters in her final meet.
"Yale track and field has been my family and home away from home these past four years," Lord said. "I would not be the same person without the memories and friendships I have formed through being a member of this team."
Arianna Lord is majoring in geology and geophysics, and is a member of Silliman College. After graduation she will be continuing her studies and pursuing a PhD in evolutionary biology at Harvard.
Jane Miller of Phoenix, Ariz., was one of the top distance runners for the Bulldogs over the past few years. After a mild injury that left her sidelined for part of her first year, she progressed steadily and had breakout seasons during her junior and senior years, lowering her 10K and 5K times considerably and setting lifetime bests in every event while at Yale. Miller competed mainly in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters, and sits seventh all-time in the 10,000 meters and fifth all-time in the 5,000 meters indoors. In her final season as a Bulldog, she won the 3,000 meters at the Y-D-C and H-Y-P tri-meets and placed third in the 5,000 at the Ivy League Indoor Championships, running her personal best time of 16:32.88. Miller also earned first-team All-Ivy honors and All-Region honors in cross country during her senior year.
"Being on this team has meant more to me than words can describe," Miller said. "Sports have always been a huge part of my life, but I really fell in love with running again at Yale, thanks in no small part to the coaches and my incredible teammates. I'm going to miss running and competing for Yale, which has been an absolute honor, but mostly I'm just so grateful to Yale Track and Field for giving me my best friends."
Jane Miller is a political science major in Jonathan Edwards College. Next year she is planning on earning a Master's degree while continuing to run.
Olivia Mooney of Cambridge, N.Y., specialized in the high jump for Yale. Much like her fellow high jumper Elizabeth Adelson, Mooney made an immediate impact on the jump squad at Yale. She won two meets as a first year, ultimately finishing ninth at the Ivy League Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2017. During her sophomore season she finished second at the Y-D-C tri-meet and won the H-Y-P tri-meet the following week. Mooney never missed competing in an indoor or outdoor Ivy League Championship for Yale, and recorded multiple top-10 finishes at the conference meet. During her final season, she recorded a personal best in the high jump that places her sixth all-time in the event for the Bulldogs.
Olivia Mooney is a member of Silliman College majoring in Ethics, Politics and Economics.
Gemma Shepherd, a middle distance and distance runner from Yatesbury, England, had a successful career in both cross country and track and field as a Bulldog. During her first year, Shepherd raced her way onto the varsity squad in cross country, where she finished eighth for the team and 40th overall at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships. On the track, she finished fifth at the Ivy League Indoor Championships in the 3,000 meters, and currently sits eighth all-time in the event. After an incredibly successful first year, Shepherd was injured for the majority of her sophomore and junior years, also studying abroad in New Zealand for her junior fall semester. After returning to Yale, Shepherd continued to make a positive impact on the team, finishing in the top seven for the Bulldogs during every cross country race of the 2019 season, finishing third in the mile at the Y-D-C tri-meet in indoor track, and ultimately running a leg of the third-place 4x800 meter relay team at the Ivy League Indoor Championships this past February.
Gemma Shepherd is a member of Jonathan Edwards College and an environmental studies major. Next year she will be working for an environmental NGO in Kauai, Hawaii. Her work will focus on increasing climate change resilience on the island through replanting of coral reefs, working on sustainable agriculture and promoting "Rights of Nature."
Hannah Steffke of Beal City, Mich., competed for the Bulldogs in cross country and track and field, focusing on mainly middle distance and distance events, including the 3,000 meter steeplechase during her junior year. During her sophomore spring, Steffke won the 5,000 meters outdoors at the Jay Carisella Coaches Invitational before ultimately having a breakthrough year during her junior indoor and outdoor seasons. In 2019 Steffke ran personal bests in the mile, the 5,000 meters and the 3,000 meter steeplechase, also competing in her first Ivy League Championships both indoors and outdoors that year. At the 2019 Ivy League Outdoor Championships, she finished 11th in the steeplechase after improving her time in the event at each meet of the season. Steffke continued on her upward trajectory during her senior year, running personal bests in the 800 meters and the 3,000 meters, and competing in the 3K at the Ivy League Indoor Championships in February 2020.
Hannah Steffke is a member of Timothy Dwight College majoring in Chemistry. She is a semi-finalist for the Fulbright Scholarship and plans to work in a chemistry lab next year before ultimately going to medical school.
Rachel Suss of Metuchen, N.J., competed in both cross country and track distance events for Yale during her four years as a Bulldog. Like many of her distance teammates, Suss continuously improved throughout her time at Yale, running huge personal bests in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters during her senior indoor season. Her early-career highlights include a fourth-place finish in the 3,000 meters against Harvard in 2018 and third-place finishes in the 1500 meters at both the Mark Young and Springtime Invitationals that same season. During her junior year, Suss competed in the 3,000 meters at the Ivy League Indoor Championships and the 5,000 meters at the Outdoor Championships before competing in her first Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2019. This past February, she capped off an extremely successful senior season with a 10th-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the Ivy League Indoor Track and Field Championships.
"Being part of the Yale cross country and track and field teams has been one of the best experiences of my life," Suss said. "I've gotten to compete alongside the most inspiring, intelligent and strong group of women and I know that they will be lifelong friends. I think one of the most special parts for me is how supported I have felt through both success and setback in my four years. I am heartbroken to not have one last semester competing with a Y on my chest, but I know that won't take away from the amazing lessons and experiences I have gained through my time on the team, and that the younger women are going to come back stronger and more fired up than ever this fall."
Rachel Suss is a member of Timothy Dwight College majoring in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. Next year she will stay on the east coast to pursue a Master's of Public Health degree in epidemiology.
